The
Kanem Empire
(c. 700–1376) was located in the present countries of Chad,
Nigeria
and Libya.[2]
At its height it encompassed an area covering not only much of Chad, but also parts of southern Libya
(Fezzan) and eastern
Niger, northeastern
Nigeria
and northern Cameroon. The history of the Empire is mainly known from the Royal Chronicle or
Girgam
discovered in 1851 by the German traveller Heinrich Barth.

The empire of Kanem began forming around AD 300 under the
nomadicTebu-speaking
Kanembu. According to the
Girgam, the Kanembu were forced southwest towards the fertile lands around
Lake Chad
by political pressure and desiccation
in their former range. The area already possessed independent, walled city-states
belonging to the Sao culture. Under the leadership of the
Duguwa dynasty, the Kanembu would eventually dominate the Sao, but not before adopting many of their customs. War between the two continued up to the late 16th century.

One theory proposes that the lost state of
Agisymba
(mentioned by Ptolemy
in the middle of the 2nd century AD) was the antecedent of the Kanem Empire.[3]

Kanem was located at the southern end of the
trans-Saharan trade
route between Tripoli
and the region of Lake Chad. The Kanembu eventually abandoned their nomadic lifestyle and founded a capital around 700 AD under the first documented Kanembu king ("mai") known as Sef of Saif. The capital of N'jimi
(the word for "south" in the Teda language) grew in power and influence under Sef's son, Dugu. This transition marked the beginning of the
Duguwa Dynasty. The mais of the Duguwa were regarded as divine kings and belonged to the ruling establishment known as the Magumi. Despite changes in dynastic power, the magumi and the title of mai would persevere for over a thousand years.

The major factor that later influenced the history of the state of Kanem was the early penetration of
Islam. North African traders, Berbers and Arabs, brought the new
religion. In 1085, a Muslim noble by the name of
Hummay
removed the last Duguwa king Selma
from power and thus established the new dynasty of the Sefuwa.

The introduction of the Sefuwa dynasty meant radical changes for the Kanem Empire. First, it meant the Islamization of the court and state policies. Second, the identification of founders had to be revised.

Islam offered the Sayfawa rulers the advantage of new ideas from
Arabia
and the Mediterranean
world, as well as literacy in administration. But many people resisted the new religion, favouring traditional beliefs
and practices. When Hummay had assumed power on the basis of his strong Islamic following, for example, it is believed that the Duguwa/Sefuwa began some kind of internal opposition. This pattern of conflict and compromise with Islam occurs repeatedly in Chad's history.

By the 12th century, the Sayfawa ruled all over Kanem. At the same time, the Kanembu people drew closer to the new rulers and increased the growing population in Njimi. Even though the Kanembu became the main power base of the Sayfawa, Kanem's rulers continued to travel frequently throughout the kingdom and especially towards
Bornu, west of lake Chad.
Herders
and farmers
alike recognized the government's power and acknowledged their allegiance by paying tribute.

Kanem's expansion peaked during the long and energetic
reign
of Mai Dunama Dabbalemi
(ca. 1221–1259), also of the Sayfawa dynasty. Dabbalemi initiated diplomatic exchanges with
sultans
in North Africa
and apparently arranged for the establishment of a special hostel in Cairo
to facilitate pilgrimages
to Mecca. During his reign, he declared
jihad
against the surrounding tribes and initiated an extended period of conquest. After consolidating their territory around Lake Chad, the Fezzan
region (in present-day Libya) fell under Kanem's authority, and the
empire's influence extended westward to
Kano
(in present-day Nigeria), eastward to
Ouaddaï, and southward to the Adamawa grasslands (in present-day
Cameroon). However, he also destroyed the national
Mune
cult and thus precipitated widespread revolt culminating in the uprise of the Tubu
and the Bulala. The former could be quenched but the latter continued to linger on and finally led to the retreat of the Sayfuwa from Kanem to Bornu c. 1380.

Dabbalemi devised a system to reward military commanders with authority over the people they conquered. This system, however, tempted military officers to pass their positions to their sons, thus transforming the office from one based on achievement and loyalty to the mai into one based on
hereditarynobility. Dabbalemi was able to suppress this tendency, but after his death, dissension among his sons weakened the Sayfawa Dynasty. Dynastic
feuds
degenerated into civil war, and Kanem's outlying peoples soon ceased paying tribute.

Between 1342 and 1352, the Sao, who had dominated Kanem prior to the Zaghawa, killed four mais in battle. The proliferation of mai claimants to the throne led to a series of internecine wars. It became a problem for them to rule.

The death knell of Sayfawa power in Kanem was dealt by the
Bulala, invaders from the area around
Lake Fitri
to the east. By 1376, the Bulala had driven the Sayfawa from their capital. By 1388, they had taken Kanem altogether. The Kanuri
were forced back into their nomadic ways and migrated west of Lake Chad, eventually establishing a new empire in Bornu.

Barkindo, Bawuro, "The early states of the Central Sudan: Kanem, Borno and some of their neighbours to c. 1500 A.D.", in: J. Ajayi und M. Crowder (Hg.),
History of West Africa, Bd. I, 3. Ausg. Harlow 1985, 225-254.

Lange, Dierk,
Ancient Kingdoms of West Africa: Africa-Centred and Canaanite-Israelite Perspectives, Dettelbach 2004. (the book suggests a pre-Christian origin of Kanem in connection with the
Phoenician expansion)